Basic Principles of Chronobiology

Lee, Sang Ahm

doi:2005.2.1.1

J Korean Sleep Res Soc > Volume 2(1); 2005 > Article

REVIEW ARTICLE

J Korean Sleep Res Soc. 2005;2(1):1-9. doi: https://doi.org/10.13078/jksrs.05001

시간생체학의 기본 원칙

이상암

울산대학교 의과대학 서울아산병원 신경과

Basic Principles of Chronobiology

Sang Ahm Lee

Department of Neurology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine

Corresponding Author: Sang Ahm Lee ,Tel: +82-2-3010-3440, Fax: +82-2-474-4691, Email: salee@amc.seoul.kr

Received: April 21, 2005 Accepted: June 12, 2005 Published online: June 30, 2005

ABSTRACT

This review is focusing on circadian aspects of chronobiology. The human sleep-wake cycle is generated by a circadian process, originating from the suprachiasmatic nuclei, in interaction with a separate oscillatory process, that is, the sleep homeostasis. The sleep-wake cycle is normally timed to occur at a specific phase relative to internal circadian rhythms as well as the external cycle of light-dark exposure. Consideration of both external and internal sleep timing may provide new parameters to quantify the phenomenology of normal and abnormal sleep regulation. Changes in ocular photoreception, interindividual variation in the near-24-h intrinsic period of the endogenous circadian pacemaker, and sleep homeostasis can contribute to variations in external and internal phase. Recent developments, deriving directly from animal work in molecular chronobiology, portend a transformation in our view of circadian rhythm sleep disorders. In conclusion, chronobiology now has a central and vital role in modern sleep disorders medicine.